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Bob Hartley’s Hawks fly high
The 2020-2021 KHL season is over, and the Gagarin Cup belongs to Avangard Omsk. The Hawks, coached by Bob Hartley, secured the trophy for the first time in their history after a 1-0 victory on Wednesday secured a 4-2 victory over CSKA in the final series. This is Avangard’s first domestic title since winning the Russian Superleague in 2004 — here’s how it happened on April 28 in game six.
Avangard wins Gagarin Cup, Tolchinsky sinks former colleagues. April 28
Two years ago, as CSKA advanced on its first ever Gagarin Cup win, Sergei Tolchinsky found himself out of favour with the Army Men. As the playoffs started, the former Carolina Hurricanes forward was serving with CSKA’s farm club in the VHL. Today, the 26-year-old delivered his revenge with a vital goal as his new club, Avangard, defeated the team where he learned the game and lifted the Gagarin Cup for the first time.
Avangard blanks Army Men, needs one more win. April 26 Gagarin Cup Final
Avangard is one game away from winning its first Gagarin Cup after blanking CSKA to go up 3-2 in the final series. Simon Hrubec made 26 saves and a resilient defensive performance blocked a further 28 shots as a pair of second-period goals separated the teams.
Grigorenko inspires CSKA. April 13 playoffs
Mikhail Grigorenko grabbed a hat-trick to give CSKA a winning start in this year’s Gagarin Cup final. His treble also moves him to 11 goals and a share in the race for top post-season goalscorer alongside Sergei Shumakov of Avangard. Shumakov himself was among the goals today, but was outgunned by Grigorenko’s infectious form.
Avangard and CSKA battle for the ultimate prize. Gagarin Cup finals preview
The West and East finals were both great series, with Avangard and CSKA deservingly moving on to the final chapter of the 2019 Gagarin Cup playoffs. In the finals, the two teams that showed the best hockey throughout the season will clash for the joy of the spectators. Both sides never won the Gagarin Cup title, thus we’ll have a new champion this year – the sixth in the League’s history.
Ak Bars wins the Gagarin Cup. Final, Game 5, April 22
Ak Bars wrote its name into the history books with its third Gagarin Cup triumph. Fittingly, in this 10<sup>th</sup> anniversary season, the biggest prize went back to the first time to lift the cup, while the Kazan team’s success puts out in front of the competition. No other team has won it all more than twice; head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov claimed his third triumph to move level with Oleg Znarok (Dynamo and SKA) as the most successful KHL coach.
“Nothing is decided yet”. Players about Game 4
Ak Bars moved to within one victory of lifting the Gagarin Cup thanks to a 3-1 success at CSKA on Friday. But after the game, players from both teams were adamant that this final series is far from over, even if it could all be wrapped up in Kazan on Sunday.
Lander’s double puts Ak Bars on the brink of victory. Final, Game 4, Apr 20
Ak Bars is just one step away from claiming its third Gagarin Cup following a 3-1 victory in Moscow. Two goals from Anton Lander and two points from Justin Azevedo led the way as the Kazan team claimed a 3-1 verdict on Friday night. Emil Garipov also impressed, making 40 saves as another fine display of counter-attacking hockey secured a vital win for Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s men.
Canadian double act puts Ak Bars on top. Playoffs, Final, Game 2. April 16
It’s an odd stat, but home ice victories for Ak Bars in the Gagarin Cup Final aren’t as common as you might expect for a team with two cup wins already in the record books. In three previous grand final appearances, Kazan had seen just three home wins for Ak Bars. Back-to-back wins, as seen at the start of this series, are unprecedented in the KHL era. With Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s team historically even more impressive on the road, it might suggest that CSKA faces an even more challenging task than usual if it is to recover from 0-2 in the series.
